Excelsior... Nation

Samajwadi Party leader arrested for involvement
in woman’s murder

NEW DELHI, Dec 19: The general secretary of the youth wing of the Samajwadi Party (SP) has been arrested from Krishna Nagar in east Delhi for his alleged involvement in the murder of a 55-year-old lady last year.

Mukesh alias Mukhiya Gujjar (37), who had twice fought Parliamentary elections on a Samajwadi Party and a Congress ticket, was arrested yesterday from his residence following a lead given by a contract killer Sunil Bhati who executed the ‘Supari’ killing of the woman last year, DCP (Crime) Tajendra Luthra told mediapersons today.

"Two rifles, belonging to someone else and for being used only in Uttar Pradesh, his personal licenced revolver and some ammunitions were seized from his possession."

As he was keeping the rifles illegally with him, he has been booked under the Arms Act, said the DCP. "He has also admitted to his involvement in the murder of Sunita Khanna at Sahibabad last year."

The arrested accused had hired Sunil Bhati, who was arrested on December 17, for Rs one lakh to kill Mrs Khanna who owed him several lakhs but was not able to pay him as her furnishing business had failed to pick up, Mr Luthra informed.

"Gujar has more than a dozen cases of rioting, criminal intimidation and assault against him," he added.

The accused also contested the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh last year but lost.

Mukesh had also floated the ‘Pathik Party’ of which he was the president. (UNI)

Monica’s judicial remand extended

HYDERABAD, Dec 19: The Special Court for CBI cases here today extended the judicial remand of underworld don Abu Salem’s companion Monica Bedi till January two next in connection with the fake passport case.

When the case came up for hearing before the court this morning, Ms Bedi and four other accused who were on bail — Kurnool Passport Office clerk P Srinivas, Asi Abdul Sattar, RI Mohd Yunus and suspended postman Gokari Saheb — appeared before the court and recorded their presence before Judge C V Subrahmanyam.

The Abu Salem gang had procured fake passports in 2001 from Kurnool town in Andhra Pradesh by engaging an agent. The case was transferred to the CBI on October 24, 2002.

The passports were issued to Sana Malik Kamal (with the photo of Ms Bedi), Ramil Kamal Malik (bearing Salem’s photo) and Neha Asif Jafri (with a photo of Shabana Azmi— Salem’s first wife).

Later, the police registered cases against all the three applicants and the four accused for their role in issuing the passports. (UNI)

Delhi Police face uphill task in Parliament bomb
scare probe

NEW DELHI, Dec 19: Officials investigating the Parliament bomb scare case are facing an uphill task in Tamil Nadu as the cybercafes in the state from where the e-mail warning of the attacks was sent do not have proper log book entries about their customers.

"It is still a blind case. There are no proper entries in the customer log books at the cyber cafes," a senior official investigating the case said here.

Tamil Nadu police has picked up about a dozen people for questioning at Palayamkottai town in Tirunelveli from where the e-mail warning of attacks on Parliament and American Embassies was sent.

Both Houses of Parliament were abruptly adjourned on Friday after receiving the threats and after a thorough search of House the threat was declared a hoax.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered a case against unknown persons in this connection and despatched a four-member team to Tirunelveli to investigate the matter.

Tamil Nadu police has been interrogating those detained and trying to draw a sketch of the person who is believed to have sent the e-mail.

The questioning is being done to get a description of those who visited the two browsing centres at the time the e-mail threat message originated, officials said.

Most of the interrogation is being done by the local police, who are better placed considering the local language and the dialects.

Among those questioned was a lecturer of the Tirunelveli city college and a non-teaching staff.(PTI)

No problems for NRIs keen toinvest in Punjab; says Govt

CHANDIGARH, Dec 19: An estimated 80 lakh Non Resident Indians (NRIs) from Punjab will get "comprehensive opportunities" in a "formal structured way" so that they do not face problems while making investments in the state, a top official of state NRI Department said here today.

Noting that NRIs were keen to "positively contribute" in the development of Punjab, state’s NRI Department Commissioner N S Kalsi told reporters here that the state Government would soon set up a separate Directorate for the NRIs so that their querries and problems could be settled without any procedural delays.

"NRIs from Punjab origin are keen to invest in the villages which they left years back," Kalsi, who was accompanied with Punjab’s Minister for NRIs Amarjit Singh Samra, said.

Liberalised rules and regulations and several concessions and incentives were now made available to the NRI investors, entrepreneurs and businessmen with single window clearance of the projects in a time bound manner, Samra asserted.

The NRIs were eager to set up foundations, trusts to help promote environmental, social and educational causes, the minister said adding that they were also keen to start business ventures or enter into collaborations with the companies here. Kalsi said that the state Government was ready to provide 50 per cent matching grant for the NRIs who takes up development projects in villages.

As a step towards creating a channel between the Government and NRIs, the Punjab Government with Chandigarh Administration and International Punjabi Chamber for Service Industry is organising an international two-day convention of NRIs at Chandigarh from January 14, he said.

‘Service Industry Development’ will be the theme of the convention as it had been experiencing rapid economic growth in the country over the last few decades, he said.

On this occasion, for the first time ‘Punjabi Parvasi Diwas’ will also be celebrated.

The convention would cover an array of service industry segments from infrastructure development to retail, real estate, banking, insurance, telecom and information technology, media and entertainment, healthcare and biotechnology, airlines, hospitality, tourism, human resource development and knowledge capital and knowledge outsourcing.(PTI)

IAF planes crashes, no damage on ground

AGRA, Dec 19: An Indian Air Force aircraft crashed near a village, some 15 kms from here, this afternoon and initial reports said both the pilot and the navigator baled out safely.

The Canberra reconnaissance aircraft crashed near Jataura village immediately after take off from the Agra Air Base, police said.

Initial reports said the two occupants of the aircraft — the pilot and the navigator — had ejected safely.

There was also no damage on the ground.

The Canberra aircraft were of 1950 Vintage and were initially inducted into the IAF as bombers. (PTI)

Audio books: Lend an ear

NEW DELHI, Dec 19: Imagine kids chucking the television and preferring to listen to a CD containing a fully dramatized version of "The Blue Jackal" from the Panchatantra and other tales!

They may not be as popular as they are in the west, but with some innovative ideas backed up by good quality, it is not long before audio books in India make a splash. And it is not just the children's category that holds promise. President APJ Abdul Kalam's audio version of the book "Wings of Fire" has sold 75000 copies and still counting!

"Audiobooks in India is still a nascent genre. Good competitive products will help in growing the market" says C P Vishwanath, Director, Karadi Tales Co, a pioneer of audio books for children in India.

"Unlike the Western definition of audiobooks, which are a straight narrative rendering, we use sound and music extensively to enhance the experience of the written word," he says. And that could hold the key for a popular reception to this medium.

Some of the innovative aspects that Karadi Tales has introduced are like roping in established names like Naseeruddin Shah and Saeed Jaffrey to narrate the tales from Indian classics, the Panchatantra and the Jataka, dynamic background music, sound effects and songs to go with the narration.
"Our first title Karadi Tales - The Blue Jackal is still a robust seller and has sold more than 80,000 copies and almost all our titles cross 20,000 copies in a couple of years," says Vishwanath. That's an impressive figure by Indian book standards, where 3000 copies is considered a bestseller!

Karadi in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada means bear. "For our first titles, we looked at Panchatantra as our source and were surprised to find that it had all kinds of Indian animals, but significantly, no bear. So we made Karadi, the bear, the sootradhar, (storyteller) and established him as the alter ego of the grandfather," says Vishwanth.

"It is the management related audio books that do fairly well in India, otherwise As far as children's books are concerned, there are very few titles. And I don't think audio book sales or their lack of it makes any difference to a bookstore," says Amit Vig, Retail head, Om Books, a major retailer of books. Another reason is that imported audio books are expensive.

The demand for audio books, especially in children's category has always been there, but quality, cost and reluctance on part of publishers to come out with audio books held this category back. "Initially, the trade, including retailers and distributors had no idea of this product genre and were reluctant to stock it or give it importance. But today Karadi Tales faces no problem," says Vishwanath.

Under a new imprint Charkha Audiobooks, Karadi Tales has introduced the genre of audio books for adults. While playwright and actor Girish Karnad narrates the abridged version of President Kalam's "Wings of Fire," Director Shekhar Kapur plays Mahatma Gandhi with actress Nandita Das narrating Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, "The Story of My Experiments with Truth."

Both the versions have been best sellers with Wings of Fire in Hindi (Parwaz) and Tamil (Agni Chiragugal). Well-known poet and lyricist Gulzar is the narrator in 'Parwaaz.' While My Experiments with Truth is priced Rs 250, Wings of Fire sells at Rs 200.

The experience of bringing out books for adults has been very rewarding according to Viswanath. "Listener's feedback was overwhelming. They discovered that audiobooks could be a very moving and emotional experience. The initial response to The Story of My Experiments with Truth has been outstanding as well."

With quality and experimentation succeeding in this segment

More and more publishers could make a positive impact and explore the vast Indian market. (PTI)

Monsoon spells buoyancy for fertiliser industry in 2005

NEW DELHI, Dec 19: As the Government went all out to cut corners on the subsidy front, the fertiliser industry, riding on the Left support to the UPA Government, managed to stave off such moves in the sector during the year.

With monsoon spelling good news for agriculture and the demand for fertiliser likely to increase substantially, the Chemicals and Fertiliser Ministry has decided to seek additional fertiliser subsidy ranging from Rs 6,000-8,000 crore this fiscal from the Finance Ministry.

Officials in the Chemical and Fertiliser Ministry estimate the subsidy bill to cross well over the budgeted level of about Rs 17,022 crore this fiscal. Till November 2005, the subsidy bill had gone up from Rs 15,879 crore to Rs 16,253 crore.

Experts contend that despite the rise in fertiliser consumption level in India, it would still be well below the trend in the developed world. As compared to a consumption level of 98 kg/hectare in India, it is estimated at 300kg/hectare in the US.

The Fertiliser Assocation of India, representative body of the industry, however, attributes the rise in fertiliser subsidy to increase in input costs.

FAI Chairman H C Grover said the Government has been tightening the norms for fertiliser pricing so as to reduce the subsidy without increasing the Maximum Retail Price.

The consequent impact on the health and growth of the industry has been given the go by, he said adding the burden of subsidy has been increasing because the principal cause of rise in fertiliser subsidy still remained unaddressed.

Grover said the availability and prices of basic raw material and intermediates, especially hydrocarbons have witnessed steep increases in price in recent years.

Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has assured the representatives that the government will not make any cut in subsidy to fertiliser companies as they are selling fertilisers to farmers at very low prices compared to cost of production.

The agriculture-related subsidies are much higher in developed countries such as the UK and US, he observed during a meeting. The Government provides concession on Phosphatic fertilisers under the Concession Scheme for decontrolled P&K fertilisers.

The concession rates for Phosphatic & Potassic fertilisers are being worked out as per the recommendations of Tariff Commission. The Government had already approved continuation of the scheme up to 31st March 2006 as per approved parameters.

Total production of Phosphatic fertilisers covered under the concession scheme was 120.05 lakh MT during the year 2004-05. The likely production for the year 2005-06 would be about 149 lakh MT as per the production plan indicated by the Phosphatic fertiliser manufacturers.

The revised estimates of subsidy on decontrolled indigenous P and K fertilisers during 2005-06 are estimated at Rs 7,332 crore against earlier Budgetary assessment of Rs 4,000 crore.

On the criticism of the use of chemical fertilisers perse (organic vs chemical fertilisers) and degradation of soils due to use of chemical fertilisers, Grover said: "What critics seem to have completely forgotten or are unaware of is that for best results a judicious combination of all these are required".

He said degradation of soils has occurred due to unscientific and unbalanced use of primary nutrients that is Nitrogen, Phosphatic and Potash and as a result of ignoring the need for using secondary and micronutrients for the crops.

Due to faulty pricing policies there is excessive use of nitrogen in the form of urea, he added.

What is needed, Grover said, is restoring the physical and chemical health of the soil through scientific, balanced and integrated use of primary, secondary and micronutrients along with organic manures and biofertilisers where appropriate.

Due to mechanisation and other factors like highly intensive farming and multiple cropping, the quantitites in which farmyard manure (FYM) are required are simply not available.

According to experts, however, there is no scientific evidence of conversion of paddy land into barren land due to use of chemical fertilisers, which is still at a low level (around 98 kg per/ha).

However, non-judicious and imbalanced use of inorganic fertilisers over years may result into deterioration of soil fertility/health and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is recommending integrated nutrient management through conjunctive use of both inorganic and organic sources of plant nutrients to prevent such degradation.

With regard to making available adequate fertiliser to farmers, the industry is complaining about the Government's lack of interest in opening new plants or even attending to the problem of revival of sick units with rigour.

At present, there are 57 large fertiliser units in the country manufacturing a wide range of nitrogenous, phosphatic and complex fertilisers.

Of these, 29 units produce urea, 20 units produce DAP and complex fertilisers, seven units produce low analysis straight nitrogenous fertilisers, and the remaining nine manufacture ammonium sulphate as a by-product.

Besides, there are about 62 small and medium scale units in operation producing Single Super Phosphate (SSP).

It is in the fitness of things that Paswan recently called upon the fertiliser industry to join the government efforts in reviving the closed fertiliser units of Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) and Hindustan Fertilisers Corporation (HFC).

He said any viable proposal in this regard would be welcomed by the Government and with such collective efforts, India can emerge as a net exporters of fertilisers in the coming years.

The Government is contemplating revival of three sick fertiliser units in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Recently the fertilisers' ministry received a detailed report on revival from the Project and Development India Ltd (PDIL). The units to be revived are Durgapur and Barauni plants of Hindustan Fertilisers Corporation (HFC) in West Bengal and Bihar respectively, and the Sindri units of FCI in Jharkhand.

In its report on the Sindri plant, the PDIL has proposed two options. The first is to make the plant functional on a quick-start basis, which will involve a capital expenditure of Rs 169.26 crore with a running cost of production at Rs 13,024 per MT of urea.

The second option, which the PDIL has given, is for improving the performance and energy efficiency at a cost of Rs 386.95 crore with running cost of production at Rs 11,938 crore.

While addressing the Golden Jubilee Annual Seminar on "Economic Growth through Agriculture and Fertiliser" organised by Fertiliser Association of India earlier this month, Paswan said the government has tried to develop a policy environment conducive to new capacities.

He said the Working Group under the Chairmanship of Dr Y K Alagh to review the policy for urea beyond NPS (New Pricing Scheme) Stage-II would submit its report very soon. He assured the fertiliser industry that they would be consulted before taking a final decision in this matter. (PTI)

Women's organisations want HP to be taken to task

BANGALORE, Dec 19: Several women's organisations have urged the police to fix criminal liability on HP e-Global, a business process outsourcing company, for the brutal rape and killing of one of its employees on her way to work last week.

Activists of the Committee Against Violence on Women (CAVOW), a national network of women's rights organisation, who met city police commissioner Dr Ajai Kumar Singh here today, appealed to him not to remain blind to the criminal liability of the employer.

Twentyfour-year-old Prathiba had been picked up by car driver Shivkumar from her house in South Bangalore around 0200 hrs on December 13 under the pretext of ferrying her to office. But he had driven her to an isolated spot near Anjanapura, raped and murdered her. He had later dumped the body in a ditch and fled the scene.

CAVOW Chairperson Sushma told newspersons here today that the organisation had brought to the notice of the Commissioner the Supreme Court's observation in the Visakha case on sexual harassment and the Workmen's Compensation Act, which included leaving one's residence with the intention of travelling to work in a company leased transport vehicle as workplace in its definition.

Alleging that HP was guilty of failing to provide security to its woman employee, she demanded that the firm should be made a party to the crime along with driver Shivkumar. She condemned the statements issued by the Commissioner, expressing helplessness in taking criminal action against the company, stating that her organisation would file a public interest litigation against any case filed by the police without including HP.

She urged the Commissioner to invite women's organisations for the meeting called by police to discuss security and safety measures for women employees following the murder of Prathiba.

Meanwhile, the Working Women's Coordination also condemned HP for not providing security to its women employees.

Speaking to newspersons here, its Convener S Varalakshmi said the women were subjected to exploitation by BPO companies without ensuring their safety and better environment at workplace. IT and ITeS companies were giving scant respect to labour laws and Governments concerned did not care to implement it, she alleged.

She said her organisation would oppose any move to bring in amendments to labour laws, providing for women to work in night shifts without ensuring safety measures. The organisation would launch an agitation against the Centre's move in this direction. (UNI)

World records 136 tremors between Dec 9 and 16

MUMBAI, Dec 19: Atleast 136 tremors were recorded all over the world by seismologists between December nine and 16 and these shocks were concentrated all along plate boundaries and majority of along the Pacific and Indian ones.

Compared to earlier years, the earth is showing a pattern not experienced by humans although such unusual phenomena is not uncommon to the planet, Prof Chandrasekharam, Earth science Department of IIT here said while explaining the USGS earthquake record for the period.

"This apparently shows the dynamic changes that the Earth is undergoing internally. A large amount of scientific data is pouring-in with respect to such changes taking place within the Earth," he said.

One of the most interesting phenomena noticed recently, is the shifting of the present magnetic pole of the earth towards Russia. A major shift of the pole is recorded by palaeomagnetist Joseph Stoner from Oregon State University, who announced it last week.

This shift also influnces the 'Northern Lights' which is formed when solar radiation bounces across the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere.

Such shift is related to the electromagnetic behaviour of the Earth's molten core which acts as a dynamo. These changes do alter the environment of the mantle resulting in a complex dynamic activity, chandrasekharam said.

This energy is transferred to the continental plates. The net results of the changes in the earth's magnetic field is occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic activity over the surface of the earth, he added. (PTI)

BJP lotus in bloom, Congress in gloom due to
Modi charisma

AHMEDABAD, Dec 19: At a time when BJP is facing crisis in some other states, the ruling party in Gujarat has consolidated its position in the political arena by a spate of victories in civic and Panchayat elections making Congress bite the dust and thereby increasing the stature of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The year has been particularly good for Modi who has managed to upset the apple-cart of BJP dissidents who from time to time raised the banner of revolt against him.

The dissidents' efforts to convince the BJP central leadership about the need for a leadership change in the state did not bear any fruit.

In March, the dissidents led by the former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel had met BJP chief L K Advani and held a three-hour meeting. But the outcome was a dissapointment for the dissident camp as the central BJP ruled out change of leadership.

One of the biggest bombshells that was dropped against Modi was by dissident BJP MLA Ramilaben Desai who in a letter said that her life was in danger because of Modi and threatened to immolate herself being "harassed" by Modi.

Her letter, however, boomeranged when the party expelled her along with two other MLAs.

The dissidents who were peeved with the BJP leadership especially party president L K Advani for backing Modi went overboard when the 'Jinnah controversy' broke out and criticised Advani. But the same evening they started scurrying for cover when they realised that Advani had withdrawn his resignation.

The dissident activities in the rank and file of the BJP could have been a boon for the Congress. But in view of absence of any charismatic leader, the Congress failed to capitalise on it.

The Congress was confident of making deep inroads in Gujarat in view of high profile visit of the party president Sonia Gandhi who undertook a 'Dandi March' from the historic Dandi Pul in the city to Dandi village near Gulf of Cambay where the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi shook the very foundation of the British empire by his 'Salt Satyagraha'.

Practically every top leader of the Congress, including most of Sonia's cabinet collegues, had converged to Gujarat to participate in the 'Dandi March' which was billed as a very important event in the history of Congress.

However, the Congress failed to keep up the tempo in view of absence of any charismatic leader who could take on the BJP chief minister Narendra Modi. Consequently the event failed to create any tangible effect on the voters.

The results of recent corporation and panchayat elections had been the biggest blow to the dissidents. After demolishing Congress in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporations elections, the saffron party repeated its feat in corporation elections of Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surat, Vadodara and Bhavnagar where it won with two-thirds majority thereby increasing the clout of Modi who had personally campaigned in all these places.

Modi appreared to have suffered a jolt when the United States denied him a visa on the ground that as head of Gujarat between February and May 2002, he was responsible for post-Godhra riots.

This only prompted Modi to capitalise on the issue that USA had "insulted" five crore population of Gujarat by denying him visa. To rake up this matter and make it an emotive issue he also organised a public function in Kankaria football ground in the presence of senior BJP national leaders.

Another of his proposed trip that had to be called off was his sheduled trip to United Kingdom. This time the reason were "security fears". (PTI)